Category: Parties & Happenings

This year, it’s all about last-minute. We’ve been moving since the beginning of the month so you can imagine the mess we’re living in. I am thankful for every bit of it, but I’ve been neglecting Christmas planning – which is wrong for someone who drinks in an ‘I Heart Christmas’ mug all year long. It’s the last week before Christmas. The day is fast approaching and we’re expecting the first batch of family members this week already! I better get moving with their gifts as they come bearing presents from the land of beautiful things 😉 I thought I would write my list of last-minute gift ideas for those of you who, like me, have had no time to shop yet.

1) Polygel cookie cutters or stamps, with an adorable mold of the shape you prefer.

On the top of my list, a gift for home bakers! The best thing about this is that you can choose and order everything online. Just head to their website and make your selection.

Photo taken from their website.

2) A board game.

Nights in are the new Saturday night fever. Card games and board games are the first choice for a Saturday night in winter, hand in hand with great cheese of course. A board game like the all-new Monopoly or Risk is perfect for the cool geek in your family.

Photo taken from google.

3) Double wall cups – MG supplies.

For the family members or friends who have just moved in, those double-wall glasses are perfect to drink their hot tea or espresso in style.

Photo taken from MG Supplies.

4) H&M Home objects.

Also for those who have just moved in – excuse the bias – head to H&M Home. Pure bliss.

Photo taken from their website.

5) A Lonely Planet book collection.

This is for the hard-core travellers. Depending on your budget, make a selection of Lonely Planet books and wrap them into one gift to inspire their new traveling year.

Photo taken from google.

6) Jamie Oliver Cookbook series.

This is for the crazy Jamie fan (hint, hint). You know those people, so enough said.

Photo taken from google.

7) Tea collection – Kusmi Tea.

For your mother who loves tea and hosts afternoons at her house, a beautiful and colorful Kusmi Tea selection is the best choice.

Photo taken from their facebook page.

8) Ye!! Speaker.

That’s for the cool young brother whose world is music. He can take it wherever he goes.

Pinterest is a lifesaver and my source of inspiration. I was very excited to attend a talk by Pinterest London’s community manager back at Food Blogger Connect 2015, in which she motivated us to pin like there’s no tomorrow.

Since I spend a lot of time on that platform, I thought I’d share the top 6 Pinterest boards for Christmas for you to get inspired.

Martha Stewart Living

AMM blog

PoppyTalk

Camille Styles

Make it and love it

Damn Delicious

Make sure you check out and FOLLOW Breadonbutter’s pinterest account. There are Christmas boards there as well! 🙂

The whole World is in deep crisis, overwhelmed with terrorism, chemicals and technology evolution. In Beirut’s case, garbage is one of the biggest problems. An increasing majority has taken up serious recycling and composting. Wherever I go, I hear about creative ideas not to ‘WASTE’ anymore. While some people are still focused on the problem and forgo the little acts that can help in the long-term, lots of efforts have been made lately.

Since this blog revolves around food, I present you today with some ways to reduce food waste this Christmas. We’re lucky to have a meal planned for Christmas Eve as well as Christmas Day so let’s act responsibly. There goes:

Never throw leftovers. Ross didn’t go through the “my sandwich” crisis for nothing. We learnt to try and top Monica’s sandwich with Turkey leftovers every 26th of December. Keep including that turkey in your post-Christmas meals until it all disappears.

You’ll be surprised how many things you can freeze for as long as 6 months. For example, if you’re keen on making a pumpkin pie but the pumpkin you got was so big that there are leftovers, cut them in squares and freeze them in sandwich bags. You can then make a nice soup in January.

Try to buy only the exact quantity of ingredients you need to make your recipe. During our Christmas food shopping, we tend to exaggerate the ingredients’ portions because of all the promotions we see at the supermarket. If you know you won’t need that much, just don’t.

Check what you already have in your freezer. Chances are you once fell for that buy 1 get 1 free puff pastry and you kept them both in the freezer. So no need to get new ones. Just use what you’ve got. Plan dishes around stuff you kept in your freezer.

All real cooks have at least one edible plant on their balcony. Before those basil or rosemary leaves die in winter, use them to season your meals. If you also happen to have a small raspberry tree, why not make this cheesecake? You won’t have wasted all that good natural produce and also saved yourself some extra bucks.

If you have lots of leftovers and can in no way finish them all , call the Lebanese Food Bank. They’ll be more than happy to gather your food and give it to people in need.

It’s okay to continue having the same dishes after Christmas. So on a quiet night after the Holiday, just pour yourself some leftover wine (if any), and finish that cheese in front of the TV. Oh, and don’t forget that bite of baguette!

After your family Christmas meal, prepare a small Tupperware for everyone. You can make it all cute and tempting for the next day. That way, you’ll have taken care of their next day lunch.

Do not go to the grocery store again until you have cooked a meal with all the ingredients you bought for Christmas. They’re called “use-it-up” meals.

When cooking, do not throw away stems, extra leaves and potato skin. They can all be used to make extra side dishes that turn out as delicious as the bigger dishes.

Store food properly in the fridge afterwards. For instance, if you served nuts and crackers before the meal, make sure they’re in sealed airtight containers right after everyone leaves. You can use them for other gatherings later on.

Compost! Convert food waste into useful resources. Put them in your backyard, or, if you don’t have one, give them to someone who does. I’m referring to those potato skins and stems that you might not want to cook with.

Study your menu well. You don’t need to make loads of dishes to show your hospitable side. It’s all about a nice and warm atmosphere after all.

Sobremesa topic: There are so many more fascinating ways to reduce waste. If each one of us pays attention and develops these new habits, we can be on the way to a better world.

The literal meaning of ‘sobremesa’ is “over the table”. This untranslatable Spanish word designates the time spent in conversation right after a meal. It can be with friends, family or even business partners.

In Mediterranean cultures, sobremesa is something that is practiced with absolute spontaneity. That time spent around the table chatting about life is one of my favorite things in life. Picture everyone full and happy, discussing interesting topics and deep revelations.

For me, December is sobremesa. Friends are back in town, families reunite, and new friendships are made. It all happens around some table, sometime in December. The Holidays and twinkling lights open up our hearts and minds, bringing out the good in us.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes like to imagine a dinner between friends before it happens. I imagine the conversation and its direction. I imagine talking about my friends’ plans for the next year, or about life’s big changes. I imagine discussing my sister’s job or fitness resolutions, my husband’s entrepreneurship journey or even my own career and travel goals.

2015 has passed by at the speed of light. We’re at a political and technological turning point. Technology is growing faster than us and we’re all growing up so fast. So let’s live this month like it matters more than anything. Let’s make the most of it and be ready for the new year to come.

Until Christmas, every post I write will include a topic for your Sobremesas. Conversation is something we should hold on to and avoid technology taking it away.

First and foremost, I apologize for not writing in so long. The truth is, as I’ve already said, the last months were hard on those of us who live in Lebanon. I hope it will get better soon and that we’ll all get back to a somewhat normal life.

Meanwhile, despite the bad state of the country, weddings and celebratory dinners were still held. After all, it would be awful to halt our lives in general, and leave it in the hands of incompetent politicians. So we still went to celebrate friends’ milestones and managed to put our worries away and have fun!

So! I’ve seen loads of table setups this summer, some I absolutely loved, some that I found were too much and others so lovely I wanted to take everything home! With respect to my love for table setups, here’s a guide to formal dining etiquette, or when and how to use all those forks and knives 🙂

Summer parties are upon us and for those of us who love to host dinners, lunches and barbecues, having a bar corner is crucial. Since the weather is hot and one of our goals is to keep our guests refreshed, fruity drinks are the best option.

To inspire your next gathering menu, here are some drinks ideas for your bar corner!

1) The famous Aperol Spritz.

In 3 easy steps, you can have yourself an amazing refreshing drink that takes you straight to apperitivo time in Italy. Click here for a video of the recipe.

2) A delicious grapefruit and rum fizz!

This is so refreshing and you can substitute the rum with vodka or gin if you prefer. Click here for the recipe.

3) Bubbly white sangria.

To make your party more colorful and fruity, try this cooling white sangria. It’ll be so popular you’ll need two punch bowls of this drink! Click here for the recipe.

4) Classic Red Sangria.

In my opinion, a white sangria is nothing without its red other half. This basic red sangria is a year-round drink you can make in no time and that almost everyone loves. You can find the recipe here.

If you’re also wondering which drink to adopt on a specific night out, here’s an infographic that might help you: Are you thirsty?

Our generation is always complaining about the lack of things to do in our country. We claim it’s always the same things and that there aren’t enough choices out there. So in an effort to innovate your outings, we, Breadonbutter and Playing with Fashion collaborated to bring you a complete guide to having the perfect, most charming and fashionable picnic there is.

On a sunny and hot Monday morning a few weeks ago, we packed our things and went up to the Bekaa to have some fun, eat some food and take nice photographs. We then hurried to compile the best way we can inspire you to go have a fun picnic yourself.

Breadonbutter was of course responsible for the food and Playing with Fashion was obviously responsible for showing you the best way to dress.

So if you’re planning on having a picnic out in nature anytime soon, this is what I think is a good checklist to follow.

Food

The best way to go when it comes to picnics is to make sandwiches. You can be as creative as you’d like when it comes to the toppings. Here’s the list I suggest:

Parma ham

Chorizo or Turkey slices

Gruyère cheese

A small-sized camembert cheese

Lettuce leaves

Bread of your choice

Drinks and Beverages

Here, I would suggest you take only 3 kinds and get a cooler. Water is the basic thing you should think of, followed by a nice bottle of white or rosé wine and a bottle of juice that you can substitute with a soft drink if you’re a true addict.

Fruits

Fruits will provide something fresh to munch on while you’re sipping your drink and having a conversation with your picnic pals. Here’s a list of fruits that can last the trip:

Dried:kiwi and apricots

Fresh: Apples, Strawberries and Sour plums

Snacks

If you don’t feel like having fruits, or if you feel like biting on a variety of flavors as snacks, you can get some of these:

Kaak or grissinis

Crisps (my favorite brand is Kettle)

Raw nuts: walnuts, almonds, cashew nuts

Sweets

Last but not least, how can a picnic end without a sweet bite? I chose:

Cookies

Dry raisin cake

Amaretti biscuits I had from Italy (which I highly recommend!)

Gear

You’ll need a practical and useful gear to put all this food in and be comfortable throughout the picnic. What I took with me:

Last Saturday was really fantastic. The weather was wonderful and we all headed outside the city to Batroun for a fun BBQ in the sun. We were a whole bunch of people (including Maya from Playing With Fashion and her husband) and everyone was happy and excited. The goal was to get there a bit late and to start eating around 3 pm to then enjoy the beautiful sunset. By 1 pm, everything was set: a ping pong table and darts game, drinks, and music. All that was left was for people to get there so that the grilling could start.

A BBQ can be manageable and trouble-free. You just need to be really organized and keep things uncomplicated. To make things easier on you, here’s a checklist you can use if you’re looking to have some fun with friends around a grill.

Breadonbutter’s Ultimate BBQ Checklist

1- The Material

When you’re hosting a BBQ, no matter its size, you want to be able to have fun with your guests and not end up cleaning for hours afterwards. To do that, it’s all in the material you get. Since a BBQ is always outdoor and very casual and laid-back, you can easily go plastic: plastic plates, plastic cutlery, plastic cups. No one will judge and you’ll be way more relaxed as nothing will break and everything goes in a huge garbage bag at the end of the day. Of course, skewers are essential and a nice BBQ toolkit would be a great plus. Jean got this one at Christmas from his little brother (the most useful gift ever). For those who will be actually grilling the meat (thank you Gigi and Marwan 😉 ), make sure you have a handy enough grill or grills for that matter. If you’re planning a big party, make sure you have enough space to grill enough food for everyone and not keep them waiting.

2- The Food

If you usually prepare food for friends and family, you should know by now that not everyone eats everything. Some don’t eat meat, some hate chicken and some can’t even get near the smell of seafood. You’ll even have those friends who’ve just turned vegetarian on you! So be prepared for everything and be ready to satisfy all of your guests. What we had on Saturday:

– Eggplant and Zucchini skewers (just cut them in cubes and get them ready for grilling)

– Potato skewers

– Accompaniments: bread, ketchup, mustard, mayo, tabasco

3- The Drinks

Aside from soft drinks, water and beer, I suggest you make two yummy punches your guests can start with as soon as they arrive. On Saturday, we made a nice Sangria (recipe here) the night before and a non-alcoholic punch for those who wanted something fresh but didn’t want alcohol (recipe soon). Jean also became really popular with his delicious Gin Basil drink (recipe soon as well!)

4- The Music

A nice playlist with various types of music is an absolute must! Having no electricty plug is no excuse nowadays as a laptop or speaker is enough. Stay tuned for a BBQ playlist 🙂

You can use the checklist below if you’re hosting a BBQ soon!

So go out there, get in the sun, play some music and hang out with your dearest friends. That’s how life should be. 🙂

It’s only Tuesday but with this weather, the weekend is already on my mind. There’s nothing more pleasing than waking up on Saturday to the smell of a freshly prepared breakfast. Whether you’re having a meal with family members, alone with your significant other or hosting a big brunch at home, here’s a great menu to put together. Most recipes are not complicated and can be prepared in advance. It’s all about a nice combination of easy breakfast dishes with fresh juices, coffee and tea.

On this breakfast menu: Blueberry pancakes, Potato and Bacon Egg flowers, all kinds of eggs and accompaniments.

Recipe #1: Blueberry Pancakes

Make the pancake mix (for 2 persons):

In a bowl, mix 1 cup of flour, 1 egg, 1 Tbsp of sugar, and 1 Tbsp of baking powder, adding milk until the mixture is watery but still thick.

Make the pancakes:

In a greased pan, add a spoonful of pancake mix and top with 4 to 5 blueberries. Flip on the side of the blueberries and transfer to the serving dish. Top with maple syrup and enjoy!

Wash you potatoes, slice them then boil them for about 10 minutes with some salt and olive oil.

Dice the mushrooms and cook them in olive oil with just a bit of garlic and salt, until brownish.

Cut the bread into round pieces and fit them in greased ramekins .

Place the potato slices around the bread (resembling flower petals). Top with a mix of shredded cheese, mushrooms, salt, then cheese again. Break the egg on top, add salt and pepper, and place in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes (keep watching).

When the egg flower is baked, sprinkle with oregano and serve!

Bacon Flowers:

Go through the same steps as the potato flowers, replacing the potatoes with bacon.

My favorite part of hosting a party is the decoration and setting up part. Whether it’s only lighting up a few candles around the house or fixing a nice flower arrangement, it brings me massive happiness. What I enjoy the most in decorating is coming up with a creative table setting. I guess I got a hang of it when I was younger and used to help around the house when my parents were hosting parties (and there were lots of them!).

Nowadays, we are also blessed with internet and more specifically, Pinterest. So for Christmas, I’ve been researching beautiful and fun ideas for a nice table setting and I’ve stumble upon many. I’ve selected a few for you to get inspired! I hope you enjoy it.

If you’re a cook at heart, you surely know about the food network. Their portfolio of cooks and chefs is the most fascinating and diverse. Naturally, I have my favorites, and Giada de Laurentiis is unquestionably one of them. Italian by origin and Emmy Award winner for outstanding Lifestyle host, this woman fascinates me and inspires me.

A few days ago, Jean showed me this delicious ricotta lemon cookie recipe to try at home, knowing how much I love baking. Turns out it was a recipe from Giada on the foodnetwork.com. So I had to try it right away! And then of course, give it a Christmassy feel. So here goes!

Ricotta Lemon Cookies Recipe

What you’ll need:

For the Cookies:

2.5 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

100 g unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

250 g ricotta cheese

3 tablespoons lemon juice

The zest of 1 lemon

For the Glaze:

1.5 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsps lemon juice

The zest of 1 lemon

How to make it:

Make the cookies:

1) In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.

3) Add the eggs one by one, mixing in between until combined.

4) Add the ricotta, lemon juice, and lemon zest and beat to combine.

5) Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

6) On an oven tray, place a baking sheet and spoon”how much” the dough on top, evenly and leaving a bit of space between each so they don’t stick together later.

7) Bake for 15 minutes or until golden on the sides then let them rest and cool 20 minutes.

Make the glaze:

1) Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest and stir until combined and smooth.

2) After the cookies have cooled, spoon the glazing on top and let it harden for 2 hours.

I’ve been watching people cook for as long as I can remember. Writing down kitchen tips and hints is known to be my thing and I still carry my old-fashioned notebook in every kitchen I visit (it’s actually almost full now and I panic at the idea of buying a new one and starting afresh).

One of the dishes I watch being cooked every single year is the Turkey my mom (Christina) makes on Christmas day. What I love the most about it is that she names it differently every year after someone who brings luck.

Turkey is not usually my thing as I mostly think it’s a dry meat that makes me full a few bites through. However, and I’m not saying this because it’s my mom, the turkey she makes is never dry.She even succeeded in making people who could never imagine having it for a meal fall in love with it. It’s so tender and juicy you can’t help not having at least a bite of it, accompanied with its special rice and grilled chestnuts of course. You can check the nutritious advantages of chestnuts in this post by Carla Mourad.

So after years of observations and questioning, I bring you tips to make the best out of your turkey this Christmas!

The Size: Your turkey has to be small – i.e. be a maximum of 6 kilograms, so it doesn’t get too dry. The bigger the turkey, the drier it will be. If you must make a bigger quantity for a larger party, 2 small turkeys are better than a big one

The Resting Period: Let the kneaded turkey rest in the fridge overnight or even for a whole 24 hours, covered hermetically with aluminum foil

The Roasting: On D day, be careful with the cooking process. The first thing to do is to roast the turkey in a pre-heated oven, uncovered for an hour, on high heat. This allows it to caramelize and bring out its flavors

The Cooking Time: After the 1 hour of roasting, cover the turkey hermetically with aluminum foil and cook it for 4 to 5 hours (depending on its weight – each kg counts for 1 hour) on very low heat

The Juicing Process: Do not leave it for 4 to 5 hours in a row! Take it out of the oven every hour, uncover it and juice it with its own juice. Take advantage to set some of the juice aside for the sauce later

The Hermetic Cover: Make sure to close it hermetically. No particle of air should come out from or enter the turkey dish!

To sum up, the most important factors to pay attention to, are:

Extremely low oven temperature

Mustard and Spices

Airtight cover

PATIENCE! After all, it is 6 hours of dedication to a pretty fat bird 😉